Teach Your boss to treat you right – By Nneka Jethro-Iruobe
My name is Nneka Jethro-Iruobe and I have worked in corporate Nigeria for 13 years now and can honestly say I enjoy my job, not all through the day and everyday but over 90% of the time. I am married with 3 kids, an author, team lead at www.instagram.com/finditbiblegames a Bible games creator, marriage counsellor and have a 9 to 5 as a Senior Manager, People & Change Services (HR Advisory) with KPMG in Nigeria.
I have worked in corporate Nigeria for over a dozen years and I thrived in a high-pressure environment. I have not always enjoyed my job. Like many of us, I have at some point wanted to run away from work, hated my boss(es), wanted to “kill” a junior team member, etc. Early 2019, there was some shake-up in my career that showed me how much people didn’t enjoy their jobs and how they firmly believed there was no way out or accepted it as the norm. the more I spoke to people and shared my work experience even with people within the same environment, the more it was clear that this was a serious issue.
Additionally, I went through some training that made it clear that this was a message I needed to share with people. What’s the message – YOU CAN AND SHOULD BE HAPPY AT WORK REGARDLESS OF WHERE YOU WORK, HOW MUCH YOU EARN OR HOW LONG YOU’VE WORKED. You spend upwards of 70% of your waking hours at and around work and you deserve to be happy at work. in 2020, I taught over 500 people through various fora on varying principles to BEING HAPPY AT WORK. I can be reached on www.instagram.com/thehappyemployeecoach and nnekajethroiruobe@gmail.com
Today, I will be sharing some key life changes to adopt if you want to improve your relationship with your boss and be HAPPIER AT WORK.
I will be asking questions a lot because I find that questions sometimes unearth your personal pain points and reveal answers that yield the strongest transformation.
So what percentage of your waking hours, do you spend at and around work? I reckon that we spend about 70% minimum of our waking hours at and around work.
How many of us here – the day you got home from the hospital cried wondering if they made a mistake in giving you that child. All of us had our fears with our 1st babies that changed with the 2nd and 3rd ones as the case may be.
By week 2, you became surer. What happened? You kept moving and by practice, you got reassured that you could handle this child you were given. By child 2, you didn’t buy as many things because you knew you really didn’t need that much. Your experience changed your mindset. This is what will happen when you begin to practice carrying yourself as valuable and communicating that value to your boss and key stakeholders at work.
WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU TOLD YOUR BOSS ABOUT SOMETHING VALUABLE YOU DID FOR THEM OR FOR THE COMPANY?
WHY THIS TOPIC?
A lot of the pain people experience at work stems from the relationships with their bosses / managers. True or False?
This is true because the primary reason you are hired is to help your boss win – let’s PAUSE and ask – Do You Believe This? You are hired to support your boss on his /her job. If you agree with this and align your mindset with this, you will do better at your job.
I did a webinar on this topic last year and I discovered that a lot of employee really do not believe TEACHING THEIR BOSS TO TREAT THEM RIGHT IS POSSIBLE. I want to share with you foundational principles and 3 things you need to start doing to help your boss see your value…
So onto the points:
a. Your Mindset at and about Work is The Foundation to the relationship with your boss
Let’s look at some wrong mindsets
- IF YOU DON’T RUN YOUR OWN BUSINESS, YOU CAN’T TRULY BE HAPPY
- Your Boss Is Doing You A Favour By Keeping You In The Job
- SPEAKING UP IS ALWAYS DANGEROUS
- WORK MUST BE STRESSFUL AND IS A NECESSARY EVIL
b. 3 things you need to start doing to help your boss see your value
- CRANK IT UP – Do Your Work Well. Seek feedback on every task and ensure you incorporate feedback in your work
- CONNECT – Ask your boss about their work experience – where they’ve worked, what they didn’t like, what else would you have been doing if not this job?
- COMMUNICATE – Say when you do something well or make sacrifices at work, when your boss speaks rudely, correct it, appreciate
CONCLUSION: You spend upwards of 70% of your waking hours at and around work – you deserve to be happy with and at the place where you spend most of your waking hours. What steps are you taking to achieve continuous growth in your happiness at work. For more on this, you can check resources on my IGTV and send me a message.
Q & A
Q: So I want to ask, Nneka are there scenarios that cannot be fixed? Like you try everything yet the boss does not like you, Or maybe feel threatened by you
Mamas if you have questions she can be reached on www.instagram.com/thehappyemployeecoach and via mail nnekajethroiruobe@gmail.com. She also has other amazing resources on her page and this amazing book: WHY YOUR BOSS PREFERS YOUR COLLEAGUE which is just 1k. Click to get.